No one at first was sure why Biscuit wore that wooden helmet on his head, but they knew because he did wear it that there had to be something intriguing underneath it. But what they were seeing wasn’t what they ever expected, before them. Right now, before their very eyes, was a Beastmen. Not the same Beastmen that many had seen in person during the first phase. No, this wasn’t the Beastmen Angus, but a new one. This was a Beastmen that was actually taking the exam, something that hasn’t happened since the Bull-Man Angus. And because of this, none of them even speculated that Biscuit was anything else but a human.
Well, except for the prior mentioned Angus, that is. You see, during their brief encounter, Angus had a small inkling that something wasn’t normal or very human about Biscuit. And because this inkling he had was now confirmed true, the Bull Beastman smiled as he watched from the viewing room. ‘I was right,’ Angus said, grinning widely. ‘I freaking knew it! I knew from the very moment that he reached out and grabbed my horn and tossed me around, that’s when I knew no mere human could ever dream to do such a thing. But another Beastmen… another Beastmen could,’ Angus snickered as he continued watching the ring with glee. ‘So now, little pup, you’re a canine Beastmen, a canine Beastmen taking the Gardenia entrance exam. That hasn’t happened in many years, not since the great white wolf Sanjuan.’
Switching gears from the viewing room to the ring, we return to the fourth match between Biscuit and Lex. Only moments ago, Lex had stabbed his sword into Biscuit’s foot, then used Biscuit’s hesitation to destroy the young Beastman’s helmet. Lex had a clear shot to strike his opponent down in one attack but seeing the former mysterious applicant’s true self gave Lex pause. He felt it was better to escape and put distance between him and Biscuit. Once again, Lex remained at distance in a battle stance, ready for anything. Even while shocked and even a bit curious, Lex never took his eyes off the thing in front of him. Lex watched as Biscuit held his head down, waiting for him to make his next move, but he hadn’t done a thing just yet.
The referee, T.K., started to worry. ‘Did applicant 4178 actually hit him? Is he dead? Did he pass out on his feet?’ The bald assistant wondered as he watched on. But he would be proven false as he and Lex saw Biscuit’s arm twitch. When he did, Lex flinched, expecting an attack, but one never came. Because what they saw was Biscuit dropping his sword, letting it escape from his grasp, as they watched him very loudly scream the word ‘NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!’ Everyone was stunned at what was happening. They didn’t expect a Beastmen to be hiding his appearance, but they definitely didn’t expect him to be acting like this. Everyone continued watching Biscuit scream in disbelief. ‘NO, NO! YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU?!’ He screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Lex. When he did, tears welled up in his eyes, as his little ears drooped down and a small whimper came from his mouth. ‘My… my… MY GRANDMA MADE THAT TRADITIONAL HEAD PIECE FOR ME, AND YOU JUST DESTROYED IT! HOW COULD YOU, YOU SAVAGE?’ Tear drops hit the ground as the young Beastmen started to weep as if he had just lost a loved one.
Out of the ring with the other applicants and some assistants was Zack. He had a disappointed look on his face as he watched the wolf boy cry. ‘Damn it,’ he thought, ‘maybe I should have bet on the buzzcut guy.’ As he thought this, Biscuit continued to cry. Then he stopped suddenly and sidestepped. When he did, he saw his opponent, Lex, slashing his sword in the position that Biscuit was just at. After missing his sneak attack, Lex took up another battle stance, staring down his opponent. ‘You know,’ said Biscuit as he wiped the tears from his eyes, ‘it’s quite rude to attack a defenseless person who is in mourning.’ ‘Sorry,’ responded Lex, ‘you just left yourself wide open. I couldn’t resist.’ Biscuit was shocked when he heard these words. ‘He’s right,’ he thought, ‘my emotions got the best of me. What would my brother think if he saw me now?’ Biscuit shook his head in disappointment as he reached his hands backwards. ‘I can hear his voice right now. He’d probably call me nothing but a baby and a mama’s boy, the jerk.’ Lex heard a tearing sound. Biscuit was tearing his pants, but he understood why when he saw a fluffy gray tail flapping in the breeze. Biscuit had torn a hole in his pants to let his tail breathe. ‘Oh man, that feels so much better!’ he cheerfully exclaimed. But soon the cheerfulness melted away as he looked at Lex. ‘You know, I wanted to hide my identity…’” “I didn’t want a bunch of attention on me,” he said as he removed the gloves he wore, when he took them off, he exposed his gray paws. “I wanted to at least keep my secret until I passed the exam, but I guess that’s a no-go for me now,” the young beastmen smirked as he took a crouching stance. “Seeing this, Lex got ready. ‘Alright, Lex, I’m so sorry for the delay. Now let’s finish this fight, shall we?’” After saying those words, Biscuit pounced forward, flying towards Lex like a rocket. As he did, he grabbed his claymore that he’d let go of during his little puppy tantrum. He held it tightly in his right hand, or paw, as he got ready to swing.
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Lex saw the attack that was coming and bent his knees. Then he jumped. As he did, Biscuit slashed at Lex, but the buzzcut guy timed his dodge perfectly. After dodging Biscuit’s slash, Lex thrusted his sword forward, aiming to pierce Biscuit’s head. But the unexpected happened. Biscuit opened his mouth wide, then snapped it down hard, catching Lex’s sword in his teeth. Lex was surprised as he watched the beastmen trap his weapon in between his jaws. “Oh shit,” Lex thought. Outside the ring, Zack smiled. “Damn, he’s a totally different animal now,” Zack said underneath his breath.
As Biscuit had Lex’s sword trapped between his teeth, he was getting ready to swing his claymore once more. Lex saw this coming. “Damn it,” he said, his face folding into a scowl. He had to think fast. Lex ended up kicking one of his legs upwards till he hit Biscuit as hard as he could in the face. The force of the attack slowed down the beastman’s swing and also loosened his jaws so Lex could retrieve his weapon with no issue. As Biscuit continued his swing, Lex spun, dodging it, then counterattacked with an attack of his very own. But Biscuit used his left arm to block the attack. Lex’s blade barely cut Biscuit’s arm. Lex winced, not out of pain, but out of frustration. “Damn it, it was far too shallow,” he thought. He backed up, giving himself some time to think.
But Biscuit had Lex pretty much figured out at this point. He was a highly skilled fighter and very smart, but he knew if anything what Lex needed to be successful was time to analyze and break down a fight. That was his greatest strength and weakness. Biscuit refused to give him a moment to breathe and charged at him like a hungry dog. Lex’s face frowned more as he saw his opponent charging at him. “Damn it,” he said through clenched teeth.
Lex swung his sword at Biscuit, but his opponent easily blocked it with his claymore. Then Biscuit kicked one of Lex’s legs with a side swipe. The kick was a powerful one. Lex’s eyes were filled with pain. “Oh no, did, did he break,” he thought. Lex decided to relax his body and perform a spin where he was. Then he slashed at Biscuit once again, but the beastman dodged effortlessly, then did a downward slash towards Lex who didn’t have any time to dodge or run away. “Damn it, damn it,” he thought. Lex reached his sword out, ready to block, knowing he had no other choice but to take Biscuit head-on.
A moment later, their blades clashed. As their swords met, Lex’s mind was racing. “I was a fool,” he thought. “I damn fool. I should have struck him down when I had the chance, back when I broke the stupid fucking helmet. He’s different now. He’s fighting way different now, and he’s not giving me a chance to fucking think.” Lex’s mind raced on and on as he tried to hold Biscuit back, but like the young man knew from earlier in the battle, he knew that he couldn’t match Biscuit in a battle of strength. The young beastman was pushing him down.
Lex thought his body would soon give out as they clashed. Lex’s teeth were clenched the entire time as he screamed at himself internally. “You have to do something. You have to figure this out right here and right now, Lex. You have to do something, or you’re going to lose. You have to think, Lex. Think!” Lex felt desperate, as if he was drowning. Every second that passed, he lost a little bit more of his focus.
Then it came to him. A light bulb went off in his head. “That’s it,” he thought. “This is the only thing that I can do.” So, without hesitating, Lex lifted his left foot, then brought it down as hard as he could on Biscuit’s previously pierced right foot. Biscuit still felt pain coming from his foot injury, but he managed to move past it. But now it felt as if his foot was on fire. Biscuit couldn’t help as his body went stiff as a board, and the very second it did, Lex took advantage of it.
Lex did a spin, breaking the two’s clash. Then he did an upward slash, then backed away. This time, Lex’s attack landed, and it wasn’t a shallow strike. Lex managed to cut Biscuit across the chest, landing another solid attack on his opponent. But even though he did, Lex didn’t feel as if he had this fight in the bag. Even though Biscuit was the one with the multiple battle wounds, Lex felt as if he was the one on the losing end. While staring his opponent down, Lex had only one thing running through his mind: that claymore. “I’ve got to get that claymore out of his hands if I even hope to win this fight.”